Post navigation

10 Small Business Productivity Tips

Posted on October 29, 2019 by Jennifer Broflowski

As globalization changes the economic stage
of the world, businesses at all levels are affected by a fault. This puts the
small business at risk due to unforeseen changes. Thus, it is important that
for a business to stay afloat, they maintain productivity and efficiency all
through its daily operations. However, this is a daunting herculean task for
the management to sustain unless inculcated into the office work ethics and
traditions.

As the saying goes, “Success leaves
clues”, meaning that looking at predecessor similar companies we can learn
a thing or two, adopting best practices used in their business models. These
practices are what has kept them self-sufficient and moved them to the top
echelon of their various industries. Each of these companies achieving record-breaking
levels of productivity for long periods.

Hence, this write-up is about ways to help
improve your productivity to better handle the ever-changing field of play in
the business arena. Below listed are 10 tips to help boost productivity in your
small business.

Be Efficient

Have you thought of how your job
environment could better experience cost and time reductions in executing
activities? That is what efficiency is all about. Here, from time to time, you
ask yourself this question “Is there a better way of doing this?”
This forces you to think of more suitable ways to ease the flow of work and
achieve better results.

Like the adage more for less, when you’re
efficient, driven resource allocation patterns change. You’ll get more results
through the use of fewer resources when they’re better applied. To do this,
you’ll need to be flexible in your orientation to change without changing your
goal in mind.

Thus, workers should have a human resource
manager that creates the office workplace that breeds creativity. This gives
room for workers to suggest better means of doing things. This is because being
hands-on, the workers are better suited to notice such areas that improvements
can occur.

Automate

As a small scale business owner, it is
important to reduce human labor charges wherever technology can suffice.
Introducing certain technology and machinery reduces work lines having repeated
tasks or job descriptions. This reduces the number of workers needed there and
increases the consistency of quality in work done. This helps to reduce the
costs incurred when paying off labor wages and also other labor rights such as
retirement plans and benefits. Also, it saves time since machinery does not
experience fatigue as humans do.

Save By Outsourcing

Outsourcing is one of the ways of leverage
which the entrepreneur uses to improve his yield productivity. It means giving
out tasks that are done by yourself to other companies, individuals or groups
to perform. As we achieve nothing great alone, this calls for the review of
certain jobs though miniature. Check to see whether it is the cost incurred for
performing that task is less than the price stipulated for subcontracting it
out to another group/company.

For example, assignment help in Canada
will base its written works from those outsourced by other Canadian companies
or neighboring countries. These companies needing briefs or other literary works that could
have been done but as a coping mechanism to cut costs have been outsourced.

Furthermore, through outsourcing your
work-schedule is also made lighter, the only challenge to this is management
and trust. The group must be known for integrity in work ethics and quality to
ensure it doesn’t affect one’s overall performance. With this in mind, when
outsourcing the company should be well vetted and analyzed to determine if
they’re good enough for the job.

Collaborate

This involves putting in place systems that
help to ease communication and encourage people. It is most needed in groups
under the same unit or division working together on a similar task. Provision
of amenities like videoconferencing, file sharing, contact archiving, general
broadband internet database, etc. would go a long way to ease the ability to connect
with colleagues, clients, vendors, etc. This improves customer satisfaction as
ease of access usability is a well sought after criteria in business when
dealing with customers.

It helps to trace and correct errors or
points of conflict in production lines or the business model itself. By
increased collaboration, in conflict resolution communication is more effective
hence it is easier to pinpoint and isolate issues and their causes.

Delegate

Delegation is the new way of a shift in the
power play in an office. It means to give authority to a subordinate to oversee
and effect changes to a certain degree in certain areas of work. By putting the
worker in charge, he or she becomes responsible for that work.

Delegation is unlike micromanagement, where
the entrepreneur is the sole decision-maker. Here a certain amount of freedom
is accrued to the workers to allow them to use their preferred work methods
unless specified. To do this, some level of competence and reliability is
required on the part of the worker. Hence it works best when the worker is prepared
for delegation.

The delegation also increases the
independence of workers on their superiors for supervision. By gaining
experience without strict supervision, workers also build trust in their
abilities and have increased knowledge and confidence. This further reduces internal
bureaucratic systems that lead to complicated administrative procedures that
are time-consuming.

Reduce Distractions

Distractions take on multiple forms but all
achieve in delaying us accomplishing our set targets. To many entrepreneurs,
distractions seem to not having much importance compared to their other
challenges being faced by the company. This isn’t the case, as distractions are
one of the main reasons for high unproductivity especially in small scale
businesses.

Hence as an entrepreneur, it is important
to reduce
distractions experienced at all levels of the company to see improved
productivity.

Listed below are a few examples of office
rules to help curb distractions

Keep meetings as short as possible addressing the issues brought up
with an open mind.

Take on more challenging work as this would allow your company’s
general mind-set to remain compliant and active

Reduce office chatter. Although social bonding is encouraged among
colleagues, it is not tolerated during work hours.

Workers should turn off smartphone notifications and shouldn’t be
allowed to use phones during active work hours

Have the Right Tools and Equipment

A lot can be said about a workman just by
looking at his tools and equipment. The same can be said about the quality and
time taken on a service or products delivered by a company. It is wise to
invest in good tools and equipment over time. This saves the company future
cost incurred due to poor durability or accidents that would have happened.

Also, it helps to speed up the work rate. Workers having better precision and ergonomics relieving them of body pains will ensure the longevity of work. This goes to say the there will be better finishing since there’s a lot more attention to details in the products or services rendered. This leads to increased customer satisfaction, which in turn helps sales and marketing the company’s brand.

Offer Support and Set Realistic Goals

Goals serve as a means to checkmate
productivity during a period. For productivity to increase, a small business
should be goal-oriented working to meet specifications outlined goals and
objectives.

Set specific goals every day for workers
stating time frames as deadlines. This helps to keep in my mind the urgency of
work to be done and prompts the worker to work. If the worker fails to achieve
these daily objectives, an employer should issue a query. Then the worker
should be interviewed whether he/she is competent for the job. Also, the goal
and objectives should be revised to see if it is realistic and feasible.

Hence, with each difficulty experienced
along the way by workers, management should provide support where needed. This
support is to clarify, educate, correct and understand the issues arising from
the work to be done.

Improve Workforce Conditions

There’s just a nice feel to a serene work
environment that naturally brings out the best possible performance in a
worker. This stimulates a deeper worker’s connection to their workspace making
them feel more relaxed and at home with their office.

One achieves this through the following:

Keeping the office clean

Providing sufficient lighting conditions

Reducing noise pollution to a minimum

Providing health safety kits and equipment where necessary

Ensure Employees Are Happy

It’s been observed that the best
performance is seen in companies having the best human relations with their
employees. Happy
workers are known to go the extra mile in doing tasks the right way without
trying to cut corners. This gives the company a cumulative edge to improve
productions and services rendered.

An increased feeling of self-worth in a
company helps workers feel appreciated and indebted to the success of the
company. One can achieve this through the following:

Having personal relationships with your workers

Develop and train them in their field of work

Management should recognize and reward excellence in performance

Management should request feedback and encourage them bringing up
ideas for presentation to the management.

Provide medical benefits

Practice positive reinforcement.

Final Thoughts

Now that you understand these various
interwoven dynamics of the things listed above, you’ll find out that the
outcome of getting improved productivity is predictable. Hence, you begin to
see the pattern to it and make the necessary adjustments needed to achieve the
desired end goal

10 Small Business Productivity Tips was last updated November 12th, 2019 by Jennifer Broflowski

10 Small Business Productivity Tips was last modified: November 12th, 2019 by Jennifer Broflowski